4Q18 Energy Infrastructure Earnings Wrap Up

Earnings season often produces memorable soundbites during the conference calls that follow. Last summer, Energy Transfer (ET) CEO Kelcy Warren said, “A monkey could make money in this business right now.” (see Running Pipelines is Easy). Kelcy is not overly burdened with modesty, but at least he is backing up his brash comments with results. ET’s 4Q18 report completed a strong year, and they reaffirmed previous 2019 guidance that is at the high end of expectations. ET is seeing the benefits of its exposure to Permian crude oil, natural gas and NGL logistics.

The company has an aggressive culture, which is reflected in their laudable response to troublesome environmental activists. But it also shows up in conflict with regulators in Pennsylvania, where all work was recently halted on its Revolution pipeline project due to compliance failures. When asked what lessons they’ve learned, Kelcy answered “We’ve learned a lot. Every place is not Texas.” There’s also the ill-fated pursuit of Williams Companies (WMB), which included a dubious issuance of convertible stock to management (see Will Energy Transfer Act with Integrity?, written when we thought they might). ET’s management has a checkered reputation.

Nonetheless, with a Distributable Cash Flow (DCF) yield of 14.7%, this is a cheap stock. If not for the preceding considerations it would be a bigger position for us.

Joe Bob Perkins, CEO of Targa Resources (TRGP), provided this quarter’s memorable quote. Responding to a question about increased 2019 growth capex, he responded, “…I described it as capital blessings”.

One reason why S&P Energy has been the weakest sector for four of the past five years is the differing views on capital allocation between management and investors. Companies want to invest to grow, while investors would prefer greater return of cash, through buybacks and dividend hikes. Joe Bob knows what investors want whether they like it or not. He continued, “Those are high return strategic investments that every investor looking under the covers would want us to make. And I think most investors and analysts like you looking from the outside in, knowing what they are and when they’re coming on, wanted us to make those investments.”

Following 23 years with JPMorgan, in 2009 Simon Lack founded SL Advisors, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. SL Advisors manages investments in energy infrastructure, including the ...
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Following 23 years with JPMorgan, in 2009 Simon Lack founded SL Advisors, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. SL Advisors manages investments in energy infrastructure, including the Catalyst MLP & Infrastructure Fund (MLXIX), the American Energy Independence Fund (USAI), and separately managed accounts. Prior to this, much of Simon Lack’s 23-year career with JPMorgan was spent in North American Fixed Income Derivatives and Forward FX trading, a business that he ran successfully through several bank mergers ultimately overseeing 50 professionals and $300 million in annual revenues. Simon Lack sat on JPMorgan’s investment committee allocating over $1 billion to hedge fund managers and founded the JPMorgan Incubator Funds, two private equity vehicles that took economic stakes in emerging hedge fund managers. Simon chairs the Memorial Endowment Trust Investment Committee of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Westfield, NJ. He is the author of The Hedge Fund Mirage: The Illusion of Big Money and Why It’s Too Good to Be True, published in 2012 to widespread praise from mainstream financial press including The Economist, Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, and Bonds Are Not Forever: The Crisis Facing Fixed Income Investors (September 2013). Simon is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts’ Market Integrity Committee, and makes regular media appearances discussing energy infrastructure.